First Tooth

First an update on Ian's last post: Madeline is really about 29 1/2 inches long. Both her weight and height were in the 95%. She is a big girl!

Last Thursday, 10 days ago, I put my finger in Madeline's mouth for her to chew on and I felt something sharp! Her first tooth popped through! I've been trying to get a picture since then. It's hard! This is the best one I have been able to get so far. You have to look really closely and there is a little white. It's easier to see in real life...

Here are some pictures that I took of Madeline today in her Christmas outfit.

Madeline always lays like this now. We call it her "model pose."

Madeline's New Stats

So I took Madeline to the doctor and wanted to post the new stats that we have for her. First of all, let me say that she was very good for how long we waited to see the doctor, and she was excellent and didn't even cry when she got her immunizations.

Madeline's Stats:

Height: 27-1/4 inches (although I think she might actually be a bit taller; no effort was made to stretch her out all the way)
Weight: 20.2 lbs. This is a healthy weight, but drastically less than Amy was claiming. I believe before the appointment, Amy was saying that Madeline was somewhere in the neighborhood of 27 pounds. Off by just a little. To be fair, she was judging solely off of how hard it is to hold/carry Madeline for long periods of time.
Head Circumference : Fits. So I might has zoned out while she was taking Madeline's head reading. I would like to think that I was calming her down for it, as I was holding her for the measurement. However, I do think her head does look more proportional to her body than it did when she was first born. Maybe I'll get into Keri's sewing kit and borrow her measuring tape and take my own measurements.

Like I said before, Madeline was perfectly healthy and the doctor loved her. The only frustration about the visit -- from my perspective at least -- is that they were out of stock of two of the immunizations she was supposed to get. They told me we could just get those next time, like it was normal practice. I am not sure what we will do, but we may take her back before nine months just to catch up on some of these immunizations, and I will consider it worth the co-pay. All in all, we are happy our little girl is happy and healthy.

Madeline's First Christmas...Picture

So there was a bazaar at the high school here in Woodland, and while I had no interest in going, Amy really wanted to go and have Madeline's picture taken with Santa. As a quick aside, I have always found these pictures to be a bit forced and creepy, and I am surprised that I didn't put up more of a fight. I am sure it wouldn't have mattered anyway; Amy put on the Christmas dress Grandma Payne gave her, and went to see Santa. Well, we finally got the picture delivered yesterday, and we wanted to show everybody how much Madeline has grown.



I do not mean to be too critical of a guy who puts up with holding children all day long, but Santa sort of ruined the dress in the picture. The dress is rolled all the way up to her waist, and so you see her diaper cover; so much for baby modesty. **Sigh** That dress was really cute. Additionally, while we still think she is adorable, it is clear that this is not her best picture. It is somewhat revealing of how many actual pictures it takes before Amy gets one she finds appropriate for the blog. From what she told me, it took herself and Grandma Moss forever just to get her to the point where she was looking at the camera. That is all for now, but we will post a more robust update in a few days. Thanks again to Grandma Payne for the cute outfit.